Who We Are

Our Fellowship

The Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship of Jonesboro is a small but growing lay-led congregation and has been a home for liberal religion in northeast Arkansas since it was founded in 1962. Services and social gatherings offer a congenial and supportive atmosphere, and our group welcomes diverse philosophical and religious perspectives. In keeping with our democratic principles, all people are invited to participate. The only prerequisite is genuine tolerance and respect for one another.

Welcoming Congregation

In accord with Unitarian Universalist principles and in keeping with our congregation’s mission statement, our fellowship voted on May 19, 2002, to declare ourselves to be a Welcoming Congregation and to commit to continuing to take appropriate steps to live up to that designation. We are the first congregation in Arkansas to be officially recognized as a Welcoming Congregation by the Unitarian Universalist Association.

A Welcoming Congregation is a religious community that welcomes and accepts people who are bisexual, gay, lesbian, or transgender; that strives to be a safe and affirming environment for those among us who are bisexual, gay, lesbian, or transgender; that ensures all areas of congregational life are open and inclusive; and that commits itself to work for the rights and dignity of bisexual, gay, lesbian, or transgender people in the larger community.

Our Faith

Our faith is one with no religious creed or dogma. We believe that personal experience, conscience, and reason should be the final authorities in religion. We believe that religious authority lies not in a book, person, or institution, but in ourselves.

Historically, Unitarian Universalism came from the merger of two liberal, free-thinking Christian denominations—the Unitarians, who rejected the doctrine of the trinity, and the Universalists, who rejected the idea of eternal damnation. Their emphasis on tolerance and liberal social views led to a merger in 1961, forming the Unitarian Universalist Association.

Unitarian Universalism has evolved into an inclusive, diverse faith drawing from many sources, not just from the Judeo-Christian tradition, but from all the world’s religions, as well as humanism, philosophy, and even science. UU congregations are democratically structured and promote the free and disciplined search for truth without the restriction of doctrinal conformity.

Do you have more questions? Please feel free to get in touch with any member of our current executive committee: